Magnetic pool ball

ABSTRACT

A pool ball comprising a spherical body of non-magnetic material and circumferentially extending loops of magnetic material embedded in the body inwardly of the outer surface of the nonmagnetic material but outwardly of a portion of the non-magnetic material, the body having its center of mass located at its geometric center.

United States Patent 1 Feddick et a1.

[11] 3,738,655 June 12, 1973 MAGNETIC POOL BALL [75] Inventors: Earl W.Feddick; Gustane-Wassman,

both of Bay City, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Victor Comptometer Corporation,

Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: Aug. 17, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 64,272

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 696,344, Jan. 8,1968, Pat. No. 3,547,439, which is a division of Ser No. 207,694, July5, 1962, Pat. No. 3,362,910.

[52] US. Cl 273/59 A, 273/1 M [51] Int. Cl A6311 37/00 Field of Search273/59, 220, 228,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 113,272 4/1871 Dertz et al.273/59 R 1,339,992 5/1920 Wais 273/59 R 700,658 5/1902 Kempshallm.273/59 R 2,277,057 3/1942 Bach 273/58 A X 2,939,709 6/1960 Verveer273/119 A X 705,359 7/1902 Kempshall 273/234 X 1,221,181 4/1917 Hooper273/87 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 7,902 1910 Great Britain273/220 Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney-Learman, Learman &McCulloch [5 7] ABSTRACT A pool ball comprising a spherical body ofnonmagnetic material and circumferentially extending loops of magneticmaterial embedded in the body inwardly of the outer surface of thenon-magnetic material but outwardly of a portion of the non-magneticmaterial, the body having its center of mass located at its geometriccenter. 7

1 Claim, 10 Drawing Figures PAIENIE JUN I 2 ma SIEHZIIS NVENTORJ edaJsmann.

m mw PATENIED 3.738.655

SIEUSI3 'INVENTORJ 20? 0% 506112077. 57 m /aam WW flTTORNEYS MAGNETICPOOL BALL This application is a division of application Ser. No.696,344, filed Jan. 8, 1968, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,439, which is adivision of application Ser. No. 207,694 filed July 5, 1962 now US. Pat.No. 3,362,910, granted Jan. 9, 1968.

This invention relates to pool balls and tables, particularly tablesequipped with a normally locked, coin actuated pool ball compartmentinto which the balls roll, by gravity, when played, and to methods andmeans for effecting magnetic separation of the unnumbered cue ball fromthe numbered object balls in the event the cue ball inadvertently isshot or rolls into one of the pockets during the progress of the game.

Most coin operated pool tables have distributor troughs leading from theindividual pockets of the table to a normally locked object ballcompartment which can be opened only-upon the depositing of a coin ofthe proper denomination. It frequently happens that the cue ball is shotor rolls into one of the pockets of the table and thus would besubjected to the same treatment as the other balls if provision were notmade to prevent the cue ball from being delivered to the object ballcompartment. This problem has been solved heretofore by so forming thecue ball that it has a slightly larger diameter that the object balls,i.e., there is a size differential between the cue ball and the objectballs, so that when the cue ball is inadvertently shot or rolls into oneof the table pockets it is incapable of entering the locked object ballcompartment. Instead, the oversize ball bypasses the object ballcompartment and is delivered to a cue ball compartment, thereby makingit unnecessary to insert a coin in the mechanism to retrieve the cueball prior to completion of the game.

Although an oversize cue ball permits its separation from the otherballs, there are many objections to utilizing a cue ball that is largerthan the remaining balls. One of the salient objects of the invention,therefore, is to provide means and methods applicable to coin operablepool games for enabling the cue ball to be made the same size as theobject balls and still enable the cue ball to be separated automaticallyfrom the object balls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cue ball having magneticmaterial forming a part of the ball.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consistsin the combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes may be made in the form, size, proportion and minor detailsof construction, without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pool table constructedaccording to the invention with the playing surface of the table brokenaway to show the ball chutes and distributing trough, the broken linesshowing a cue ball andobject balls;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view throughthe distributor trough and cue ball compartment taken on the line 22 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional plan view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse, sectional view through the distributor, taken onthe line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, elevational view of a cue ball formed accordingto one embodiment of the invention, with a part broken away to show theconstruction;

FIGS. 6-8 are views similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating otherembodiments;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of the magnet;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating a modification.

Apparatus constructed according to the invention comprises a complementof pool balls including a plurality of numbered object balls P and oneunnumbered cue ball C, the balls being adapted for use with asubstantially conventional pool table T. The table has underslung ballchutes 1 communicating with each pocket 2, each chute 1 terminating at alower level, downwardly inclined trough 3 leading to a normally lockedobject ball compartment A into which the object balls P may roll bygravity. The trough 3 also leads to a cue ball compartment B into whichthe cue ball C may roll when the game is completed, or when it isinadvertently shot into a pocket during the progress of the game. Thecue ball compartment is provided with an access opening H to permit theball to be removed from the compartment B when desired.

The cue and object balls preferably are formed of phenolic resins of thetype disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,223,394 or 2,395,675, but any othersuitable and conventional material having the desired characteristics,as hereinafter set forth, may be utilized.

As is best shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the trough 3 has a bottom wall orfloor 4 having a width somewhat greater than the diameter of the balls.In advance of the cue ball compartment B, a portion of the floor 4 isremoved to form an exit opening 5 beneath which is mounted a deflectorplate 7 that is adapted to deflect a falling ball into a chamber 8 thatcommunicates with the compartment A through an opening 9. Adjacent theopening 5 the floor 4 has a width such that any ball arriving at theopening will be diverted through the latter by gravity unless it isacted upon by an external force.

The cue ball C is formed to the same diameter as the object balls andfollows the same path to the exit opening 5 whenever it is inadvertentlyshot or rolls into one of the pockets 2 of the'table. To eliminate thepossibility of the cue balls rolling through. the exit opening v5 andfollowing the path of travel of the object balls, one side wall 10 ofthe distributor trough is slotted as at 11 for substantially the fulllength of the opening 5 to accommodate an elongated magnet M of knownconstruction, for a purpose presently to be described.

The magnet M is adapted to attract and guide the cue ball past the exitopening 5, so that it bypasses the locked compartment A and continues toroll down the a The cue ball can be formed in various ways and,

when completed, preferably is of the same weightand diameteras theobject balls P. Moreover, the magnetically attractive material must beso distributed that the center of mass of the ball coinsides with thegeometric center of the ball so as to permit the ball to roll true whenplayed,

In one embodiment, the resin forming the ball C is molded about aplurality of uniformly spaced apart, stainless steel strips 12 in theform of circular or semicircular loops. The molding process can be anyone of a number of conventional embedding processes as long as eachstrip or loop is embedded in the body of the ball so that they all arecompletely covered by the resin material of which the ball is formed andas long as the strips are evenly spaced so that the center of mass ofthe ball is at the geometric center of the ball. Alternatively (FIG. 6),a hollow sphere 12a of metal may be embedded in the ball by a moldingprocess and the sphere can be perforated as at 12b to allow the plasticresin to flow into the sphere to form a core within the sphere. Analternative method (FIG. 7) is to mold a ball with peripheral grooves12c in its outer surface, the depth of the grooves being greater thanthe thickness of the strips 12. Thereafter the strips 12 may be insertedin the grooves and the grooves filled to the outer surface of the ballwith the resin which subsequently may be cured to form a smoothexterior. A still further method (FIG. 8) is to substitute for the loops12 segment shaped pieces of metal 12d similar to orange sections andeither mold the ball around such sections, or insert them in a ballhaving grooves therein to accommodate them, and subsequently fill thegrooves with resin and cure the latter to form a smooth surface.

In all of the foregoing embodiments, it is desirable that the metal inthe ball extend as close as possible to the surface of the ball toassure adequate attraction of the ball by the magnet M. Accordingly, itis necessary that the resin used in forming the ball be capable ofadhering to the metal and remaining adhered thereto. Moreover, the resinshould be sufficiently tough to avoid cracking in the regions adjacentthe metal.

If desired, the exposed face of the magnet M can be concave in crosssection to provide for a greater area of contact with the ball. Thestrength of the attraction between the cue ball and the magnet should besufficient to maintain the ball against the side wall 11 of the trough,but it should not be of such magnitude as to prevent the ball fromrolling past the exit opening 5, thus assuring its reaching the cue ballcompartment B.

In any of the described embodiments, the metal embedded in the cue ballC can be magnetized. In such an arrangement, the magnet M can bereplaced by a strip of magnetically attractive material such as steel.It should be understood that the terms magnetic means in the claimsrefers interchangeably to magnet, magnetized material, or non-magnetizedmagnetizable material.

If it should be desired to repel, rather than attract the cue ball, themetal in the ball can be so arranged that its magnetic polarity is thesame as the polarity of the magnet M. This construction would requiremounting the magnet M on the trough wall that is opposite the wall 11,as is shown in FIG. 9.

In practice, the player first inserts a coin (not shown) in a coin slidelever 16 (FIG. 1) and pushes the lever inwardly to actuate mechanism(not shown) to unlock the ball compartment A. The complement of objectballs and the cue ball then may be assembled on the playing surface ofthe table and a game begun. Any object ball P that rolls into a pocket 2will be delivered to the locked compartment A, from which it cannot beretrieved until another coin is deposited. Should the cue ball C be shotinto a pocket, however, it will be forcibly attracted by the magnet M soas to prevent its being diverted to the locked compartment A. Instead,the cue ball will bypass the exit opening 5 and will be delivered to thecompartment B where it may be retrieved and put in play.

The disclosed apparatus constitute presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, but this disclosure is intended to be illustrative ratherthan definitive of the invention. The invention is defined in theclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A magnetically attractable pool cue ball adapted for use with otherpool balls in playing a pool game and having a diameter corresponding tothe diameter of the other pool balls, said cue ball comprising aspherical body having a smooth, continuous outer surface, said bodybeing composed of molded, non-magnetic resinous material within which isembedded magnetically attractable material, said magneticallyattractable material comprising a spherical cage composed of a pluralityof uniform, curvilinear metal loops uniformly spaced from one anothercircumferentially of said cage and extending along lines which intersectat common polar locations of said cage, said cage being concentric withthe geometric center of said body and being of such diameter relative tothe diameter of said body that said cage occupies a position radiallyremote from the center of said body and adjacent but wholly inwardly ofthe outer surface of said body and at a uniform depth from the outersurface of said body, said non-magnetic resinous material beingidentical throughout said body and being adhered to and completelyenveloping said loops.

1. A magnetically attractable pool cue ball adapted for use with otherpool balls in playing a pool game and having a diameter corresponding tothe diameter of the other pool balls, said cue ball comprising aspherical body having a smooth, continuous outer surface, said bodybeing composed of molded, non-magnetic resinous material within which isembedded magnetically attractable material, said magneticallyattractable material comprising a spherical cage composed of a pluralityof uniform, curvilinear metal loops uniformly spaced from one anothercircumferentially of said cage and extending along lines which intersectat common polar locations of said cage, said cage being concentric withthe geometric center of said body and being of such diameter relative tothe diameter of said body that said cage occupies a position radiallyremote from the center of said body and adjacent but wholly inwardly ofthe outer surface of said body and at a uniform depth from the outersurface of said body, said non-magnetic resinous material beingidentical throughout said body and being adhered to and completelyenveloping said loops.